Collide
by g0ddess f0rever
Summary: This story takes place after “Going down the Road”, during the summer, so there will be a number of spoilers throughout the story. Basically, if you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read it. It’s summer Ellie and Craig are both desperate for money. Will wh
1. Another Day, Another Problem

**Summary: **This story takes place after "Going down the Road", during the summer, so there will be a number of spoilers throughout the story. Basically, if you don't want to be spoiled, don't read it. It's summer; Ellie and Craig are both desperate for money. Will what seemed like a dull summer job turn into something more? Also, will Spinner and Jimmy's friendship ever be the same after the shooting last year?

**Pairings: **Craig/Ellie, with references to Craig/Ashley and Sean/Ellie

**A/N:** Let's see, originally, I wasn't going to do this, but now I must dedicate this to Ruj. She helped me so much with planning this story out, including the title, and giving me the idea of which couple to use… So, yeah… Love ya Ruj.

**Disclaimer: **Sadly, I do not own and am not affiliated with Degrassi, Epitome Pictures, or anything of the sort, including characters, names… All that jazz. I do own the DVDs though. Also, I don't own, and not affiliated with Howie Day or the lyrics to his wonderful song "Collide."

**Happy Reading Loves**

**Chapter 1: Another Day, Another Problem**

Eleanor Nash, Ellie Nash, Eleanor Cameron, Ellie Cameron, Eleanor Nash-Cameron, Ellie Nash-Cameron. These were the words that Ellie jotted down on a fresh sheet of paper as the teacher droned on about film. She'd signed up for the summer course hoping it'd help with her college application. Of course, she knew everything there was to know about the film industry, so these lectures that Dr. Romero gave every week had gotten old pretty easily. Every few seconds she'd look up from the paper, just to show that she was paying some attention to him. Audrey Hepburn, yes, she was a great actress, and Ellie knew this already, so this week's lecture was irrelevant to what she wanted to do. She wanted to direct films, not star in them. Starring in movies were for girls like Paige, girls who had it all, the beauty, the brains. _Okay, maybe not the brains._ Directing was her passion. She loved being behind the camera, capturing those moments that nobody thought about. A couple's first kiss, a kid falling in the hallway, those moments, the things that meant nothing. To her, it was something more than that, the reaction, the excitement of it all, even if it was just a fall, meant something to her.

"Miss Nash?" Dr. Romero's deep voice snapped Ellie back to reality. "I believe I asked you a question." He told her, obviously aware that she was paying no attention to him at all. Teachers were a pain, really, they always picked the ones who had no idea what the answer was, making life harder for both themselves and the student.

"Umm," She tried to stall as she looked around the room. He could've easily chosen Cody, this geek in the front of the room that was waving his arm so hard Ellie thought it would snap out of the socket. Cody noticed him look at her and smiled. She sighed and rolled her eyes. All Cody talked about was Star Wars, or Star Trek, or some other weird sci-fi show. "Could you repeat the question?" Ellie reluctantly asked.

"According to the AFI, what is the greatest movie of all time?" Dr. Romero asked.

"The greatest movie of all time?" Ellie repeated, looking as if she was pondering hard over the answer, of course she already knew what it was. _Citizen Kane, 1941._ Looking up at Dr. Romero, she noticed the smug look on his face. He really thought she had no clue.

"Yes, and sometime before class is over. I'd like to give everybody their assignments for the summer." He told her. "Maybe if you'd pay more attention to me than to your future last name, we-" That hit Ellie hard.

"According to the AFI, the greatest movie of all time is Citizen Kane, made in 1941." She told him in a tone that she knew he'd understand. She was very upset at the moment, and he, and the rest of class could tell. "Now, I think you can tell the class the assignment."

"Well, that's correct." Dr. Romero replied uncomfortably. He cleared his throat and began to speak again. "The assignment that needs to be completed this summer is a short film, no more than thirty minutes long. It can be about anything you'd like, and it may be any type of film you'd like. Just, keep the content PG-13. We'd like to make the film viewable for teenagers." He told hem. "Next week, I'd like for you to have some ideas jotted down. Please have a solid idea of what your film will be about, the setting, the characters, the cast. See you all next week. Class dismissed." Dr. Romero told them as everyone stood up to leave.

Ellie made her way through the shuffle of students, and out of Degrassi Community School. She'd be the one to go to school during the summer, but it was worth it, it was for her dream, her future, her everything. She sat down at one of the picnic tables outside of the school and turned her notebook to the page where she'd written her name over and over again. A single tear fell on the paper, smudging the ink. Tearing it out, she crumpled it up and threw it into the garbage can, just like Sean had thrown their relationship away. He'd left her, he'd abandoned her, he'd hurt her. And yet, he said he loved her. She sighed and stood up, pondering what to do with herself. Alex was at her cousin's for the summer, and Ashley was in London for the summer. There was nothing for her to do. She headed home to get her camera, maybe she'd get an inspiration for her film project.

Upon arriving to her newly remodeled home, she walked inside to see that the television was on. She didn't recall leaving it that way, but she might've, she never was too sure. She knew the aroma coming from the kitchen wasn't because of her. It smelled delicious. Lasagna, her favorite. Suddenly, it hit her that someone was in her house, someone that shouldn't have been there. She grabbed the television remote, arming herself with a weapon. _Remote Ellie, really? What are you going to do that, turn the guy off?_ She shrugged and walked into the kitchen.

"Mom?" She looked at the woman. "What are you doing here, it's in the middle of the day. It's Thursday. Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Ellie asked, lost. Her mom had started working two jobs to pay the bills and to pay for Ellie's classes. It had gotten harder with Ellie's dad away, and the bills had piled up while her mom was at rehab. It hadn't helped that when she got back, she was paying Ellie's rent.

"Eleanor, I mean, Ellie." She'd finally given in to calling her that. "Sit down, I made lasagna, your favorite." She was all smiles, and was obviously hiding something.

"What's going on?" Ellie asked, reluctantly taking a seat at the table. "Why are you home?" She asked, ignoring her mother's distractions.

"To be honest," Her mother set down a plate of lasagna in front of her. "The job had a big budget cut last week." She started. "So, they had lay offs-"

"And you were one of the lucky few." Ellie interrupted, poking at her food. Her mother nodded, confirming her thoughts. "So, what does that mean, I mean, financially speaking."

"We'll just have to cut back on the extra spending." Mrs. Nash replied, causing Ellie to smile a bit. "Of course, this means, I can't afford to pay for your classes anymore." Ellie's smile quickly faded.

"I'm not hungry." Ellie told her, standing up and heading upstairs, ignoring her mother calling her, wanting to talk about it. She got into her room and shut the door, locking it before she collapsed on her bed. Just when things were going somewhat good for her, this had to happen. She rolled over and grabbed her camera off her dresser. "I could call my movie Hidden Confessions." She said to herself, turning it on. Nothing happened. She pressed the power button again. Still nothing. It wasn't the battery, she'd had it on the charger all day. This could not be happening. She couldn't afford to take classes anymore, even if she could, that didn't even matter, she didn't have a camera anymore.

"Could this day get any worse?" She said to herself with a sigh. _Don't jinx yourself Nash._


	2. Can't Keep Holding On

Thanks for the feedback. Either way, I've decided to continue on this story. Aaah… This is my baby, I love it. And thanks to the people who read it before I put it up…Your good reviews gave me the courage to post it. So back to the story

**Collide**

**Chapter 2: Can't Keep Holding On**

Craig used the mouse to click the send button on his computer. He'd just sent Ashley yet another e-mail. That would make is eight so far this week. He sent her about two a day, hoping to get a response. She was yet to reply. Of course, she had reason; at least, that was what he kept telling himself. _Her dad must have her working hard._ That was the excuse he'd made up on Tuesday, when she hadn't replied to any of his e-mails yet. That was the excuse he'd continue making up until she replied. There had to be others that Ashley hadn't stayed in touch with, not just him. Toby, Ellie, and Paige probably hadn't heard from her lately as well. It's not like he'd know if they had, he hadn't talked to them in ages. Ever since he came back home, he hadn't talked to anyone. This was due to the fact that he was working for Joey, trying to get enough money to pay for a new guitar. Deep down Craig knew that even when he wasn't working, he didn't want to talk to them. He was pretty sure that at this point, everybody saw him as Crazy Craig. It didn't matter how hard they tried to deny it, he could see right them, and at that moment, the last thing he needed was the constant onslaught of "Are you okays?" and "How are you feelings?" He got enough of those at home.

His thoughts were strayed by the growling of his stomach. Figures he'd be hungry, he hadn't eaten dinner yesterday, and he always headed straight to work upon waking up in the morning. Forcing himself away from the computer, he headed downstairs to grab a sandwich. Angie was at camp, he was on his hour long lunch break, and Joey was at the lot. Alone, how he liked it, how he wanted it to be… Most of the time. He wouldn't mind having a friend or two, someone to hang out with, but no, he'd pushed them all away, as usual. They just didn't get him. He'd even stopped going to support group. Ashley was the only reason he'd went in the first place, and now that she was gone, there was no need for him to bother. There was nobody to force him, nobody that cared enough.

Joey had offered to get him a private psychiatrist, but he declined the offer. All he needed was for someone to see him at a shrink, and with Degrassi and all its problems, a student was bound to see him there, probably as they were leaving from their own awkward session. Something like that could confirm the Crazy Craig rumor that he tried so hard to ignore.

"Food." He said to himself, turning on the radio in the kitchen as he dug through the refrigerator, looking for something to eat. _So many options: peanut butter and jelly, ham and cheese, turkey and cheese. I can't choose._ He sighed to himself as he closed the refrigerator door and grabbed a pop tart. He never liked his pop tarts hot, so he just took them out of the shiny foil package and bit into it. After swallowing he made his way into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"Some lunch." He said to himself. "Of course, it'd help if I could make decisions." He turned the television on, but muted the sound. The radio in the kitchen would've drowned the sound out either way. _I'm genetically unable to make decisions._ He thought to himself. "I mean," He began thinking aloud, realizing once more that he was alone. "My mom thought she loved my dad, but she loved Joey. My dad couldn't decide whether he wanted to beat me or hug me, and me, I couldn't even decide which girl I wanted to date. Something that simple, I couldn't decide." He told himself.

The one decision he had made had been the dumbest one. The decision to love Ashley. He would've given anything for her. He went to the support group for her, he was ready to go to England for her, he stole for her, he did everything for her. He loved her. And what had she thought of that? She didn't care in his eyes. He told her that he'd be coming to England, and she didn't want him to. She didn't want him there; she didn't want him to be around her. He got angry just thinking about her.

He put the half eaten pop tart down on the table and headed back to his room. He checked his cell phone for the time; 12:30. He had to be back at the lot in half an hour, or else Joey would show up at the house, like he always did when Craig was even a minute late. He'd become overprotective of him, well it seemed overprotective to Craig. Of course, he put himself in that need to be protected position. He'd done that the minute he decided to throw out his meds.

Breakthrough! Another decision. So he was capable of making decisions, they just always happened to be the wrong ones. That hit him hard, got him to thinking. E-Mailing Ashley twice a day couldn't have been a good decision. She'd think he was a stalker… No, no, she'd see how much he loved her, how much he needed her. That's the same type of thing stalkers say about their stalkees. But Ashley wasn't his stalkee; she was his girlfriend, right? He sighed to himself as he picked up his guitar, strumming a nonexistent tune.

"I don't know if you'll forgive me." He began singing, as the nonexistent tune turned into a very familiar one. The song, the one about Ashley. He strummed the guitar string again, and felt it pop as it broke. He angrily slammed it down on the bed next to him. He couldn't wait until he had enough money to get a new one. Which meant he'd have to suffer two more months of working with Joey, but he was almost positive he could handle it?

"Everything I touch turns to dust." He said, looking back at the guitar. "If that isn't the truth, I don't know what is." Looking back at the clock, he saw that 15 minutes had passed since he last checked it. That meant he had 15 minutes to e-mail Ashley and get back to the lot.

"One more can't hurt." He said, sitting down in front of the computer. He knew that he couldn't keep holding onto her. He knew that the real reason she went to England was to get away from him. He knew all of this. He wasn't stupid, and he wasn't blind. But for some reason, he just couldn't stop himself from sending her another email.

Dear Ash,

He started on his 3rd e-mail to her that day.


	3. You and I

Guys, I'm seriously loving the feedback. You have no idea how much it means to me. Okay, if you write fanfics, then yeah, you do… This chapter has definitely been my favorite to write… And soon you'll see why. So.. Here goes.

**Chapter 3: You and I**

Ellie stared down at the application in front of her. It might as well have been a blank sheet of paper. The only thing written on it so far was her name, Ellie Nash. She looked up from the paper at Meeri, who was patiently waiting for her to finish. She couldn't believe it'd come to this, working at the local movie theatre. If it was what she had to do to get money, so be it. It's not like the theatre was a complete burden to her, she was just heeding warnings she'd received. Alex always complained about the job, but then again, what was one thing that Alex didn't complain about? She'd even overheard Paige complaining about the job one day at school. Working here for the summer would be a pain. The onslaught of summer kiddy movies would bring, as Alex liked to call them, "a bunch of pint-sized demons possessed by sugar." Ellie laughed at the thought of it.

"Angie, slow down!" Craig Manning called as he chased down his little sister. Upon catching up with her, he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder like she was a feather, or rather, a very light sack of potatoes.

"Craig, put me down!" Angie kicked and laughed, knowing that she didn't want to be put down, and was enjoying this the whole time.

Ellie stopped watching the two long enough to return her focus back to her application. _Experience? I have no experience. I like movies. But that won't help me get a job here._ She sighed and put down the pen, frustrated. Only she'd take something like a job application so seriously. But she needed the money, so badly. She needed a new camera. _Come on Nash, it's just an application. Not an exam. Worse comes to worse, you don't get the job. You'll survive. _ She picked up the pen again, and began filling out the application.

"Ellie." The voice came from behind her, and she sighed to herself as she turned around. Craig was standing there, and had surprisingly, put Angie down. The little girl obviously had no idea who Ellie was, and if anything, would simply remember her as Ashley's friend. "Long time no see."

"Hey." Ellie replied. Of course they hadn't seen each other in a while. It wasn't like they were friends. They just knew the same people, were connected by people. Euchre, Marco, Ashley, Group. With three out of four of those things gone, and one just dissolved, they hadn't really expected to see much of each other. "What movie are you going to see?" Ellie asked, directing the question more toward Angie than Craig. She and Craig had barely ever talked, so why start now?

"March of the Penguins!" Angie proclaimed with excitement. "Want to see my penguin walk?" The little girl was always managing to put herself in the spotlight. Before Ellie could respond, Angie began waddling around in a circle, causing Ellie to laugh slightly.

"She's uh, really excited." Craig told her. "What are you going to see?" He asked, obviously not catching the hint that she didn't want to talk to him.

"Nothing. I was just leaving." She said, starting to walk away from the counter, not worried about the job, or the application. If she stayed there any longer, he'd find out why she wanted that job so badly.

"Movie theatre?" Craig picked up Angie and followed behind her. "Doesn't seem like an Ellie Nash kind of job to me." He said once he caught up to her.

"You don't know Ellie Nash." She retorted. "Why am I still talking to you?" She asked the question to both him and herself. Why was she still talking to him? Why did she respond him? Whatever the reason was, she didn't want to stick around and find out. She continued walking, and he continued following her.

"Because, I can get you a job." Craig replied. If that was the reason, maybe she could stick around to find out. "Joey's looking for someone to work at the lot." He started.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Washing cars is not my idea of a summer job." She told him, immediately dismissing the idea.

"Washing the cars is my job." He said with a laugh. "Joey needs someone to answer the phones in the office. File records, that kind of thing."

"It's called a secretary." Ellie told him, hitting him with some of the infamous Nash sarcasm.

"Right, secretary. So, what do you say?" Craig asked her.

"Cra-ig." Angie whined. She was the only girl who could change a one syllable word into two. Ellie admired the skill with a smile. "Let's go see the movie."

"Right, the movie." Craig said, acting as if he'd forgotten all about.

"Are you sure I can get this job?" Ellie asked, finally turning to face him.

"I sware it on… On… my guitar." Craig told her.

"Didn't your guitar get stolen?" Ellie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not the point. I'll get you the job." He assured her.

"Fine. Call me later. Do you have a piece of paper?" She question, still holding the pen that she'd "borrowed" from Meeri.

"No, but I have a hand, will that do?" Craig put Angie down and held out his hand. Ellie rolled her eyes and took him by the arm, writing her phone number on his wrist.

"Don't let anyone see this. I don't want random people calling my house." Ellie said, closing the pen and blowing on his wrist to be sure that the ink wouldn't smudge.

"I won't. so, I'll talk to you later?" Craig asked with a smile.

"Later." She said, turning and finally walking out of the movie theatre.

"Cra-ig!" Angie started up again. "Can we go NOW!" Angie started up again.

"Yeah, we can go." He said as she started waddling towards the theatre. He stood there for a second, staring down at where Ellie had just blown on his wrist.

"CRA-IG!" Angie yelled.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He said, turning and following behind his sister.


End file.
